Public Asset Utilization Research Lab
Exploring the blank spaces in institutional design, and the room for improvement, through structural analysis of the PPP/PFI framework and field surveys of how public assets are actually used
Background
Japan's PPP/PFI framework has been built out quickly: priority review regulations have spread, MLIT established the Small Concession Platform, and the regional platform agreement scheme has been rolled out. Yet a structural gap separates the existence of an institution from its functioning. This lab crosses public data from the Cabinet Office, MIC and MLIT with practitioners' knowledge, analysing quantitatively and structurally whether these institutions work as intended and where the blank spaces lie.
Research Artifacts
Progress map of frameworks and deliverables for each phase. Click a slot to expand related notes.
Hypothesis
0/6Framework
Problem Map
Stakeholder Map
Logic Model
Deliverable
Research Questions
Hypothesis Notes
Fieldwork
0/5Framework
Research Design
Data Collection Plan
Ethics Checklist
Deliverable
Fieldwork Notes
Raw Data
Analysis
0/4Framework
Analysis Framework
Causal Loop Diagram
Deliverable
Analysis Notes
Data Visualization
Paper
0/5Framework
Paper Outline
Peer Review Plan
Deliverable
Research Report
Policy Brief
Infographic
Outreach
0/4Public Article
Presentation
Media Kit
Tools / Prototype
Bibliography
Detailed reference list for this research.
PPP/PFI Action Plan (FY2025 revision)
Cabinet Office (2025)
Never demolish, always transform, with and for the inhabitants: Anne Lacaton on Urban Design and Architecture
Harvard Graduate School of Design (2022)
Research Report on the Adoption of PPP/PFI Methods by Local Governments with Populations Under 200,000
Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) (2021)
朽ちるインフラ — Rotting Infrastructure: Another Approaching Crisis
Nemoto, Y. (2011)
Fire Prevention Notice No. 78 (Guidance on Safety Management for the Decommissioning of Underground Storage Tanks)
Fire and Disaster Management Agency, Hazardous Materials Division (1991)
Other Notes (21)
Structural Analysis of Abandoned School Small Concessions — The Institutional–Execution Gap Behind 1,951 Unused Schools
Corporate Hometown Tax at ¥63.1 Billion — How Personnel Dispatch Is Reshaping Public Asset Regeneration
PFS Adoption at 9% — Why Municipalities Cannot Embrace Pay-for-Success Despite Complete Institutional Infrastructure
The Structural Gap in Priority Review Regulations — Behind the 82% Adoption Rate Lies a System That Doesn't Work
The 'Softification' of Public Services — A Paradigm Shift from Facilities to Services
Public Asset Utilization Lab — Hypotheses and Scope
Structural Analysis of Japan's Small Concession Three Walls — Revenue Structure Types and Breakthrough Patterns
Airport Concession Revenue Structure — The 'Viability Threshold' Revealed by 12 National-Government Airports and the Conditions for Private Entry
Park-PFI Seven Years of Revenue Structure — Conditions for Revenue Facilities in Urban Parks and the Three-Type Divergence
The PPP Desk Divide — Structural Gaps in Municipal Internal Capacity and Their Impact on Project Formation
Risk Allocation in PPP/PFI Projects — How Poor Matrix Design Drives Project Failure
Structural Comparison of Three Water Concession Cases — Divergence Conditions of Operational Transfer in Miyagi, Hamamatsu, and Susaki
Contract Design Comparison of Three Small Concession Cases in Small Cities — Breakthrough Patterns for the Three Walls
Pricing What Cannot Be Measured: Building a Willingness to Pay
Has PFS Reached Beyond the Three Priority Fields?
The Two Seats PFS Sets Aside for Supporters
Three Markers for Spotting a Supporter's Seat
27,000 Defunct Gas Stations and Subsurface Tank Legacies: A Typology of Shrinking Assets
Adaptive Reuse of Decommissioned Oil Terminals and Refineries — Comparing Ten Domestic Cases and Three International Precedents
The Five-Layer Methodology of Meaning Inversion for Shrinking Assets — A Draft Evaluation Framework for PPP Projects
A Methodology for Structural Analysis of PPP/PFI Contracts — Reading Foundational Clauses, Risk Allocation Matrices, and Monitoring Provisions in Three Streams
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Interested in this research?
We welcome researchers and practitioners to participate. You can contribute through joint research, data provision, fieldwork, and more.
Discuss research participationResearch Artifacts
- 1.1Problem Map
- 1.2Stakeholder Map
- 1.4Logic Model
- 1.5Research Questions
- 1.6Hypothesis Notes
- 2.1Research Design
- 2.2Data Collection Plan
- 2.3Ethics Checklist
- 2.4Fieldwork Notes
- 2.5Raw Data
- 3.1Analysis Framework
- 3.2Causal Loop Diagram
- 3.3Analysis Notes
- 3.4Data Visualization
- 4.1Paper Outline
- 4.2Peer Review Plan
- 4.3Research Report
- 4.4Policy Brief
- 4.5Infographic
- 5.1Public Article
- 5.2Presentation
- 5.3Media Kit
- 5.4Tools / Prototype